It All Came Crashing Down
by Northlight
Summary: The aliens' presence on Earth, and the actions the authorities have taken against them have had a drastic effect on two worlds. (AU)


It All Came Crashing Down

_ Title: It All Came Crashing Down  
Summary: Alternative universe. The aliens' presence on Earth, and the actions of the authorities taken against them, has had a drastic effect on two worlds.  
Rating: PG13.  
Disclaimer: WB and 20thC Fox.   
Date: Dec. 31, 1999_

Night again. Up in the sky, the ships massed above the earth looked like a thousand distant stars. The soft hum of the security systems broke into an occasional burst of staccato clicks. The system seemed to speak like a living thing... quite and steady in the night; louder and vibrating with speed during the day; the harsh wail of it's sirens during attacks were the screams of the dying. 

Liz Parker wrapped her sweater tighter around her thin frame. The room smelt overpoweringly of stale cigarette. She longed to fling the door open and let the cool night air sweep away the smell. A quick look at the watch handing from her narrow wrist decided her against such an action. It was already seven o'clock -- throwing open her doors at such an ungodly hour would be asking for trouble from any number of sectors. Other than the guards, the only people who ventured beyond the safety of their homes once night fell were fools or traitors. 

Her hand rested against the bolt to the cafe's front door. Liz paused a moment before she rose to her toes. Every night she told herself that she would not look. And every night, she could not stop herself from doing so. She knocked out the narrow board tucked into the door, revealing the sheet of glass that the wood had hid from sight. Liz pressed her face against the door, her eyes sweeping the narrow range of the outside world that the tiny window provided. 

Her breath caught as a motion caught her attention. A figure had stumbled forward, caught briefly beneath the glow of one of the street lights. He scrambled backwards as if the light had burnt him. Liz's eyes remained trained on the figure as he skirted the pool of light played out across the cracked sidewalk. Her heart was hammering as she saw him slowly weave his way across the street. He was coming towards the cafe. 

'Only fools or traitors,' Liz reminded herself sternly. Her hands didn't listen. Rather that slam the bolt home, she pushed it all the way back. She was already inching the door open when the man collapsed against it. His weight forced the door further open, making Liz stumbled back a step. Liz hurried back, one hand catching onto the door in order to keep it from opening further than it already had. The other reached out towards the man. Her arms wound around his waist, and without prompting, his arm was flung about her shoulders. 

They stumbled into the cafe together in an awkward shuffle, Liz nudging the door shut behind her with her foot. The bolt was quickly snapped into place. Liz led the man towards the nearest booth, slipping her arm free of his waist as he fell onto the bench with a sigh of relief. He looked at her from beneath lowered lashes and smiled wanly. "Thank you." 

Liz nodded. "Welcome to the Crashdown Cafe," she responded, flustered by the weight of his gaze upon her. She bit into her lower lip as she realized what she had said. 

"The Crashdown Cafe?" the man questioned, his lips quirking into disbelieving smile. 

"Just the Cafe, now," Liz amended. "'Crashdown' was decided to be too subversive a name." She looked around at the bare walls, stripped of the silver skinned aliens who had once lay against them. "Most everything about this place was..." she added with a shrug. Liz could almost remember the times when those images had been a joke; a fantasy land that tourists indulged in; an icon of inescapable pull for fanatics. 

He nodded. A tight silence stretched out between them before the man held out his hand. "Max," he told her as Liz cautiously accepted his hand. His was warm and strong around hers. Liz swallowed, flushing slightly. 

"Liz," she responded. She reluctantly pulled her hand free. She had been helping run the Cafe since she was first old enough to be of use, and had been interacting with the customers for just as long. Never had she been at such a loss for words. Nothing from stony silence to the sly remarks of men too long without female companionship had flustered her. Suddenly, she found herself thrown off balance. There was _something_ about this man. 

She cleared her throat. "What were you doing out there? You're just lucky you didn't run into the Guards." It wasn't wise to ask, but she had allowed him entry into her home... 

Max's head dipped, his eyes fixated on the table top. "I didn't realize how late it was," he answered stiffly. The ground shuddered, and Liz's hands slapped down upon the table, steadying herself. Max looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "I'm sorry," he told her. 

"Aren't we all," Liz murmured in reply. The ground stopped shaking, and Liz slid into place at the table. She could feel Max's knees brush hers beneath the table. "It's been going on so long I barely even notice it anymore," she lied. Max caught her untruth, his eyes burning into hers. Liz met his look defiantly. "It isn't as bad here as it is other places. And really, I've grown up with this most of my life." She tilted her head, her eyes narrowing. "But I don't think that I've ever seen you before, Max." She would have remembered him. Those _eyes_... deep and piercing as if they could leave her soul bare before him. 

"I was in Roswell once, a long time ago -- before... all of this. I wasn't here long." 

Liz smiled. "It wasn't all that impressive even before this." 

Max's eyes traced the lines and curves of her face. "It left quite the impression one me, even after such a short stay," he responded. His voice told her that it hadn't been a good one. 

"I'm sorry to hear that," she said, responding to his tone and not merely the words he had delivered. 

Max looked slightly startled at her answer. "Maybe it would have turned out better if I'd met you back then," he told her. 

He wasn't hitting on her. The words were sincere, almost wistful. Liz flushed once more, and tore her eyes away from his. "This is where it started, you know," she said finally. Max blinked, uncertain at her sudden change in topic. Liz spoke over his silence. "The invasion." 

"I know," Max said softly. 

"We never knew why. We still don't," she sighed. 

"I heard..." Liz looked up at him expectantly. "I heard that they sent their children here for safety. But their children were... hurt. And when they came back and found out what had happened..." 

Liz hunched over, her arms tightening around herself. "I'd never heard that one before. Still doesn't excuse everything that's happened since then." 

Max shook his head. "I don't suppose it does." He swallowed heavily, his eyes clenching shut. "I'm sorry." 

Her lips were tightly compressed. "You don't have anything to be sorry about." 

He could remember the anger, the words that had burned on his lips. He wished that Liz's words were true. But he had _seen_, and he had so very much to be sorry for. 

*** 

"Why are the cute ones always extraterrestrial?" Vicky whined petulantly as her gloved hands patted over their captive's firm chest. "I mean, look at that chest! Those arms... that butt... God, what a specimen of a man!" 

Maria crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at her partner. "Damn it, Vicky! Can leash in your libido for one fucking night?" she spat. 

Vicky glared at her over her shoulder. "You ask me that _every_ night." 

"And you haven't answered in the affirmative yet." Maria roughly nudged the taller girl out of her way, and squatted down next to their prisoner. He was scruffy, and his expression was venomous when he looked at her. Comb out his hair, and put him in some decent clothes, and he could have been attractive, Maria thought. She scowled at that random thought. 

"You know," Vicky whispered conspiratorially, "I hear aliens are supposed to be awesome in bed. All those awesome powers and all..." She cast a hopeful glance towards their prisoner, who merely scowled and rolled his eyes at her words. 

"He's a _prisoner_," Maria huffed irritably. 

"I don't mind the cuffs," Vicky answered. 

Maria's jaw clenched. "Just get the truck, Vicky. We'll get our guy here to Topolski, and then you can go find yourself a nice human to work all that excess energy off on." She watched the other woman slip away with barely concealed relief. "Damned empty headed fool," Maria hissed, rising to her feet. 

Maria rounded, her foot lashing down and out. Her prisoner let out a short scream as her booted foot connected with his knee. "Don't move, space boy," she growled. 

"You think I'm just going to sit here and wait for you to bring me to that butcher?" he hissed back. 

Maria glared down at him. "Look here, _we_ didn't ask you to mosey on down this way. You're the bloody genius who decided to try and sneak past our defences. You got caught. Deal with it. Unless you want me to zap you and you can spend the trip over unconscious." She bent over him, grabbing the collar of his shirt. "Got me?" 

She should have seen it coming, Maria thought with disgust as her prisoner's head snapped forward, solidly connecting with hers. Maria yelped and fell back a step. The man clumsily stumbled to his feet, closely followed by Maria. Injured knee or not, the man could _move_. He had made it past one building before Maria tackled him, sending them both tumbling back to the ground. 

"Are all aliens as irritating as you?" Maria asked. She settled her full weight on his chest, her legs clamping his arms to his side. 

"Fuck off," he snapped. 

"That's more Vicky's style." She held a small black box against his chest. "Remember, you move, and you're out of it. Okay?" 

He was glowering at her. Maria got the feeling that her captive wasn't used to being beaten, especially not by a mere human. She smirked at him. "Poor baby, all ready to come on down here and send all the pitiful humans scurrying for cover. Maybe out for a game of hide and seek? Drag them out of their hiding spots and make them scream?" 

There was something almost like shock in his eyes. "I wasn't here to hurt anyone!" he protested. 

Maria snorted. "Right. And all those ships up there that keep on shooting at us are just here to help with the landscaping. You hurt us, we hurt you... that's the way it goes. Your kind may end up getting the better of us most of the time, but then there always are the idiots like you who manage to get caught. It may not bring back all the people you've killed, but watching you squirm certainly is satisfying." She didn't sound satisfied. There was an undercurrent of disgust in her voice, and he could feel her hand trembling against his chest. She obviously felt it, too, for her hand stilled a moment later. 

He called up a sneer. "You brought this on yourselves." 

Her free hand swung out, catching him full across the face. "We did _nothing_ to bring this on ourselves! You... _things_ just swooped down out of the sky and went about killing off as many of us as possible!" 

"We gave you a chance. All we wanted was that the others be returned." 

Maria shook her head. "Why am I arguing with you? Nothing but a bunch of no good, lying murderers..." She grabbed his chin, forcing his head from side to side. "See all of that?" Maria demanded, her chin jutting out towards the buildings lining the streets. They were visible through the light cast by the street lamps. "Those used to be homes! People used to live in there... now a lot of them are buried in the rubble that used to be their homes. Others cower within those walls, day and night, waiting for their turn to come." Her fingers sunk into the flesh of his jaw. "Don't you think we'd _stop_ this if we could?" 

His eyes were watering with pain, but his gaze was steady. "Would you really?" he asked. 

"Yes!" Maria spat. "Or haven't you been listening, space boy?" 

"I..." he paused. "I think I know how to stop all of this, if you'll let me." 

Maria had gone rigid above him. She grimaced, rage in her eyes. "You lying son of a alien. Do you think I'll believe that? You tell me what I want to hear, and I let you go. No Topolski for you, no playing the role of the corpse in the next airing of 'Alien Autopsy'." 

"You said you wanted this to end. What do you have to loose by letting me go? One less alien to cut open versus the chance to make all this end once and for all." 

Her eyes were burning. "_How_." 

"We just want the rest of the children returned to us." 

Maria's eyes went wide. "Children?" Her eyes narrowed. "Are you sure that's all it takes?" 

He closed his eyes. "No... Maybe. I'm not sure. But it's the best hope we have." 

She was still for a long moment. "Vicky should be back any second now. Get out of here," Maria said, rising to her feet. "But if I see you again while the war's still going strong..." she said warningly. 

He stumbled to his feet, nodding his acceptance of her words. 

He was moving fast, nearly swallowed by the shadows already. She couldn't stop herself from calling out after him. "Who are you?" For a long moment, Maria didn't think that she would receive an answer. 

"Michael," he called out, and then he was gone. The name whispered against her, and Maria shivered in the night air. She tucked the box she had held against his chest back into her arm band, her mind already turning over how she would explain Michael's escape to Topolski. 

_ Title: It All Came Crashing Down (2/?)  
Dec. 31, 1999_

Breathing still shocked her. In and out, air in her lungs, blood in her veins, life in her body. Sometimes, it hurt so bad that the breath died in her throat and darkness came crashing down over her head. And when she woke, breath still fell past her parted lips, the remnants of the pain that had chased her into darkness following upon that first indrawn breath. 

The walls of her cell were clear. She could see out of her cage into the room filled with machinery and people. What she saw was of no importance. She wouldn't be leaving her cell. They let her watch as they watched her. Their eyes never left her -- eating, sleeping, when she relieved herself, while she showered -- those eyes never closed. 

The only people allowed into her cell to see the world from the inside out were the Doctor and Topolski. Once, there had been others allowed in, too. That had stopped when one of them had held her down on her cot. His hand had held her wrists above her head while the other pawed at her. His breath had been hot against her face. She had seen something in his eyes, different but similar than what she saw in Topolski's. 

She had never been so very grateful to see Topolski. The other woman had looked at the man, and something hard had filled her face. They had to send in cleaning women to get the blood off of her glass walls once Topolski was finished. After that, they could all watch, but none dared touch. 

She was Project Bastion, #11FA. Air in her lungs, blood in her veins, and she existed. Beyond her cage, beyond the world she saw, two worlds clashed and fought and died for her. 

*** 

"I wouldn't go over there, if I were you," Tony cautioned, his hand clamping down on Alex's shoulder. The younger man jumped guiltily, tearing his eyes away from the metal door that had swooshed shut behind Kathleen Topolski. 

"What's back there?" Alex asked as he let Tony guide him back towards his own station. 

Tony shrugged his narrow shoulders. "Don't know, don't want to know. Believe me, Alex, knowing ain't worth the shit it gets you into. I know one guy, he went back there and came out in a freakin' garbage bag. If trying to get into that room don't get you killed outright, it gets you sent back to the surface, where you're pretty much dead anyhow." The clattering of computer keys accompanied Tony's speech as his long, slim fingers flew over them. 

Alex grimaced slightly. "I don't know... I think I'd rather be back up there than down here." His own fingers fell upon the keyboard set up before him, rattling out the string of numbers required of him. Tony shot him an incredulous glance. "Outside, I have my friends. And freedom. Down here... well, I never pictured ending my days living in one giant lab." 

"Don't you go saying that around Topolski," Tony warned sharply. His voice softened slightly as he continued. "You'll get the feel to the place in a few weeks, kiddo. It ain't quite as bad as it looks." 

"I guess I just wish that I'd never agreed to come here," Alex admitted softly. He'd barely even had the chance to give a proper good bye to Liz and Maria. One minute, he'd been entertaining a few of the neighbourhood kids with a song on his guitar, and the next, Topolski had been swooping down on him. Small and blonde with a voice like honey, she had been terrifying enough to freeze him in place. Everyone knew of Kathleen Topolski -- she was in charge of all things defensive which related to Roswell. Although everyone was more than pleased that she was as capable as she was of defending them against the invaders, Kathleen Topolski was definitely a mixed blessing. The woman was as capable of turning her wrath against any citizen who crossed the bounds of what she constituted proper behaviour as she was of plotting to destroy the beings who continuously hovered overhead. 

Tony shook his head, his voice firm. "Listen here, Alex. Get used to this, cause you ain't going back up. Keep your regrets and complaints to yourself, and keep the hell away from the back. You stick to those two rules, and you'll be fine. You're a good enough kid, I wouldn't want to see you end up hurtin'." 

*** 

The throbbing agony in his knee had faded to a ghostly remnant of remembered pain by the time Michael had hobbled out of Maria's sight. His heart was still hammering in his chest -- more hard-hearted a Guard, and his alien ass would have been hauled in before Topolski. The thought made him shudder. Michael hadn't been allowed to visit planet-side since he and Max had first been retrieved by the Elders. Despite his removal from the scene of the conflict, news of some of the more ferocious humans had reached even the non-combatants of his own kind. 

Topolski's name alone was sufficient to make entire segments of the population shudder in fear and revulsion. They called her the Butcher of Roswell, and to say her name was to speak of death. They called her a demon, given human form so that she could lead the slaughter in person. The Elders spoke of a world inhabited by creatures as foul and bloodthirsty as the Butcher herself. 

The world of monsters that Michael had expected to find waiting for them had proved to be the construction of fear and propaganda built by fanatical anti-humans. He had seen crumbling buildings and a silent town that seemed to hold it's breath, praying that they would not draw attention onto themselves. And he had heard the untruth of his preconceptions in Maria's voice as she spoke of ruined homes and a people waiting to die. 

No monsters... only beings as frightened and angry as were his own people. It had been a hard realization. He had hated the world of blues and greens that spun beneath his window for as long as he could recall. Michael doubted that he would ever be able to think of humans without suffering a twinge of distaste, but he could no longer summon the rage against them which has sustained him for so long. Even the slight aching in his knee as he ran and the memory of Maria's threat could not ignite the flames of his hatred. Had their positions been reversed, he doubted that she would have emerged unscathed. 

Michael flatted himself against a wall, twisting his head to glance around the corner. He saw no figures draped in black racing along the path he had taken. Relief flooded him at the sight of the empty street he had left behind. Not monsters, perhaps, but seeing humans as trustworthy would not come soon. A part of him had half-suspected that Maria's agreement to let him go would prove as false as had her leaders' promises to return those who they held without reason. 

His breathing was ragged. The differences between this atmosphere and that in which he lived were subtle, but it was enough to steal his breath after less of an exertion than would have been necessary at home. Michael clenched his eyes shut, concentrating fiercely. His abilities worked slower here, as if slogging through the air. His thoughts ventured outwards, seeking out the unique mental patterns of his friend. 

//Max?// he called out into the void. Specks of light, the visual representation of the minds of all those who filled this world pulsed steadily, unresponsive to his call. //_Max?_// Michael cried out again, worry crackling through his voice. What if after evading the two female Guards, Max had been apprehended by others? If Max had been sent spiralling into unconsciousness as Maria had threatened to do to him, Michael was uncertain as to whether he would be able to find, let alone contact, Max. 

//I'm here, Michael,// Max responded. There was obvious relief in his voice upon receiving contact from Michael. //You okay?// 

Michael nodded, even though he knew that Max would not see the motion. //Fine. But enough pleasantries, Max! We have to get moving before the Guards find us... or the Elders realize that we aren't up there any more. Where are you?// 

Max paused for a long moment. //Follow me, but just promise you won't overreact once you get here.// 

Michael could feel the low buzzing in the back of his skull as Max's trail sprung to life from the nothingness stretching between them. He set out at a jog, his eyes carefully scanning the darkness for any other nasty surprise like that which had first separated them earlier that night. 

*** 

Liz could feel the change in him immediately. The silence around them changed in feel, no longer comfortable. Max was pulling in on himself, and tense sort of expectation radiating from him. Liz's hands clenched around the handle of the broom she had been wielding as she watched him rise from the table at which he had been situated since first arriving. 

"Max?... Where are you going?" she asked. Her question sounded like a demand, and Liz winced slightly. She had no right to lay questions or demands upon him, but somehow, she couldn't bear the thought of him leaving. She didn't want him to slip out of her life as easily as he had entered it, leaving her with nothing but some few hours worth of memories and the unanswerable need to know what had become of him. It wasn't sensible, it wasn't logical... but Liz had been operating on emotions since she had first seen Max. 

"It's going to be fine, Liz," Max smiled. His eyes were tender, and yet, he appeared almost... afraid when he looked at her. He seemed as if his feelings shocked him, leaving him at a loss as to explain from where they had come. 

The broom clattered to the floor. "It's not safe out there." She was moving forward, drawn towards him. She stood so close that she could feel the heat emanating from his body. 'It's not polite to invade personal space,' Liz's mind chided. Max didn't seem to mind. Standing next to him, she felt something sparking within her. It demanded exploration. Her hands lay against his chest. "We have an extra room. You can stay until morning, at least. You'll get into trouble if the Guards find you breaking curfew." 

His hand rested against hers, holding it in place above his pounding heart. "I wish I could, Liz. I'd like the chance to get to know you better..." He already felt as if he knew her, and all that was required for the picture to be complete were the details of her life. She was so soft and sweet and caring... she was _everything_. And they were killing her. _He_ had helped initiate the struggle that would surely lead to her eventual destruction. 

She stiffened at the muffled pounding that rained against the locked door. "Max?" Liz murmured. 

"I'm sorry. I have to go," Max answered softly. 

Her fingers clutched at his shirt. She rose to her toes, brushing a light kiss against the side of Max's lips. When she fell back to her feet, her face was flushing. She reluctantly released Max's shirt. "Maybe, someday, you can come back to visit." 

"I... I'd like that, Liz," Max replied. 

The bolt was slung back and a moment later, Max had slipped out. And though she had barely known that man, Liz had the feeling that she was watching a large piece of her life slipping out of her grasp. 

_Title: It All Came Crashing Down (3/?)  
Jan 1-2, 2000_

Michael kept his opinions firmly to himself, for which Max was unendingly grateful. He was still struggling to decipher what Liz's brief kiss meant, and how he felt about it. As much as had Michael himself, Max had indulged in a disgust of humanity born of two short, terrifying weeks during which they had awaken from their pods and had been immediately cast into a world of suspicion and ever encroaching enemies. And yet, the thought of Liz made his breath quicken... He wanted nothing more than to protect her, and knew that his own kind were the very ones from which she needed protection. 

"We had better get moving, Max," Michael hissed. Barely constrained energy seemed to snap around him. He rubbed at his jaw, his fingers barely brushing over the fingertip shaped bruises shadowing the flesh there. 

He could feel Liz watching him from behind the sliver of glass embedded in the doorway to the Cafe. Max wanted nothing more than to look back, to look into her glorious eyes one last time before he threw himself into a wild plan that was as likely to find him dead at it's conclusion as it was lead him into victory. He didn't look back. Max nodded and the two aliens silently ghosted away, moving deeper into the shadows. 

They stopped at the end of the street, surrounded by crumbling buildings. Crooked shadows fell like the silhouettes of unnamed beasts across the cracked pavement. Both young men shut their eyes as their minds cast outwards. Finding Max had been difficult enough for Michael due to the deadening effects present on this world. Finding Isabel, whose mind they had not touched in years, would be far more difficult a task. 

Max had nearly stopped breathing, so intent was he on locating his sister's essence. The air rushed back into his aching lungs as he opened eyes brimming with disappointment. His shoulders drooped. "She's not out there!" he groaned. He felt physically ill at that moment. Either they could not locate Isabel because she was no longer alive, or she had been shielded somehow. In either case, their self-proclaimed duty to rescue her seemed to have come to nothing. 

Michael's brows had furrowed, his disappointment taking the form of anger across his features. "We _have_ to keep on looking," he insisted. Common sense had told him that it would take more than a trip to the surface in order to find Isabel. Michael had never placed much stock in common sense. He had believed with every bit of conviction he had, that two untried, sheltered teens would prove capable of success where their best warriors had not. 

Max shook his head, his jaw clenching in determination. "I know. We'll find her." The memory of Isabel's frightened shriek as the car skidded to a halt drove his searching thoughts forward once more. They had taken her before the Elders had come for them. Isabel had never seen home... had never felt their parents' arms wrap about her... she had never known what it felt to be _safe_. Sometimes, Max thought that his own people had forgotten that they fought for Isabel's freedom, and that of the other children who had been taken prisoner by the peoples of this world. The Elders seemed more consumed by the thought of making humanity pay for their crimes, rather than by the desire to return their children to the families who longed for them. 

Time lost all meaning as their thoughts spanned the far reaches of their mental ranges. Max felt that he had seen the souls of the entire world sparkling along the astral plane, and yet, he had not found Isabel among them. 

"Fuck!" Michael spat. "She may as well have dragged me off to the Butcher, for all the good I'm doing out here." His eyes went wide, and Michael rounded on Max. "That's it, Max!" he gasped. 

Max's eyes narrowed. Michael always had plenty of ideas on just about everything, but their actual potential was less than impressive. 'Isabel's worth it,' he thought, and nodded for Michael to continue. 

"_Maria_," Michael exclaimed, as if her name was all the explanation that was required. His eyes shone in the darkness, set alight by the ships planted in the sky. 

"Who?" Max questioned. 

"She's a... never mind that, Max! Just trust me, that girl will be able to get us exactly where we need to be." Max refrained from commenting on the fact that Michael sounded far from as certain as his words painted him to be. 

*** 

"You are in such deep shit, Maria," Vicky commented once more. She sounded less than upset at the prospect of seeing Maria chewed out by Topolski for allowing their prisoner to escape. She looked at Maria's stony profile from the corner of her eye and grinned. "After this, I wouldn't be so damned high and mighty about things. He's a _prisoner_," Vicky repeated mockingly. 

"Shut up, you empty headed little... _trollop_," Maria snapped, her patience wearing thin. Vicky at the best of times was intolerable. Vicky gloating could lead even a saint to contemplate homicide. Maria's hands clenched around the steering wheel, and her back teeth ground together. Despite the outwards manifestations of anger, she was feeling strangely... peaceful. 

Maria knew that she would be in for a hard time once Vicky eagerly revealed her seeming failure that night. Once the news of an escaped alien reached Topolski, Maria knew that a visit to the infirmary was looming in her future. And yet, she could not bring herself to regret releasing the alien -- _Michael_. She didn't want to trust him, but somehow she knew that he had been sincere when he spoke of his attempt to end the conflict that was quickly tearing her world apart. Topolski's fury was nothing when faced with even the potential for a cease-fire. 

Vicky sniffed. "If one of them was down here, it must have been for something pretty damned important. You'll be lucky if all that Topolski does is--" 

"Look, I don't care what she does, okay?" Maria growled. She slammed down on the breaks, smiling as the sudden lurch made Vicky's head snap. "Now stop yammering about Topolski." 

//Maria?// the voice brushed across the surface of her thoughts. Surprise made Maria's hands jerk against the wheel, and their vehicle veered wildly. Vicky cast a suspicious glance in Maria's direction, her hands braced against the dashboard as Maria regained control. 

Maria ignored Vicky's increasingly shrill demands for an explanation. She _knew_ that voice. Maria kept her eyes focused on the darkened road slicing through the night before them. It was a conscious effort to keep her emotions from rising to her face. On most occasions, it was easier to think of Vicky as a ditz, but Topolski didn't allow anyone into her Guards unless they were capable. Should she let any of her shock surface, Vicky would undoubtably note it and report it to Topolski along with Michael's escape. 

She was prepared the next time the voice whispered through her mind. //What are you doing in my head, space boy?// Maria ventured, uncertain as to whether her response would reach him. 

//I need your help,// he answered. 

Her hands were shaking against the steering wheel. Allowing Michael to escape was far beyond the realm of the acceptable. Conversing with him, and offering him her aid were traitorous acts. 'But you've already been proven yourself a traitor this night,' Maria reminded herself. And he had spoken to her of stopping the violence... 

//Why should I trust you?// Maria demanded, still struggling between self-preservation and a dream that was hovering at the edges of reality, waiting to be made real. 

//I haven't hurt you yet. And I could have simply taken over your mind if I wanted to,// Michael replied. 

The trauma of training had burned certain absolute truths into Maria's mind. She could remember Valenti's voice as he drilled the aliens' capabilities and weaknesses into the dozens of new recruits under his command. //No,// Maria answered, //you couldn't have.// 

Michael's mental voice sounded irritated when he responded. //Fine, you got me. I can't. But that's not the point. I can't set things right all by myself. I _need_ you, Maria.// 

His voice was flickering, softening and strengthening as he spoke. //What's wrong?// Maria demanded, concerned. 

He cursed. //You must be approaching a shielded area. What's it going to be, Maria? _Now_.// 

It felt as if the entire world was resting upon her -- waiting for her to become it's salvation or to doom it to more fighting, more dying. 'It may not work. I'm dead if it doesn't. It could be a trick... This could be for real.' 

//...Yes.// 

*** 

There was a coded message waiting for him when he returned to his quarters that evening. Alex was glad that no one else was there to see him, for he was sure that he looked guilty as he cautiously opened the message. It was barely one line on the computer screen. Those brief words had the potential to send him topside in the garbage bag Tony had warned him about. 

'We need in, tonight.' 

Alex swallowed nervously, his chest tight. Having a means of communication with the outside was strictly disallowed by Topolski. And this message was exactly the reason for that rule. The message wasn't signed, but only two people had been told of how to contact him. It had to be from Liz or Maria, 'unless,' his mind whispered uneasily, 'Topolski found out about this and is trying to test your loyalty.' 

He sat frozen in place, his fingers hovering over the keys that could either drag him in further or cast aside the message. Alex's already tiny room became claustrophobic. Goosebumps marched along his skin. His fingers fell to the keyboard. 

'God help me,' Alex thought as the coded message he had written was sent out. 

*** 

Things had definitely spiraled out of control, Max thought as he watched Maria stare at the screen of the small computer resting on her lap. He had gone from an utterly acceptable distaste of humans, to being kissed by one, and finally, to placing his life in one of their hands. He didn't like being out of control. Not having a grasp on his situation had been what had first allowed Isabel to be taken. If he had known where they were, if he had known what they were waiting for... things would have turned out differently. Instead of ushering them towards the road, Max would have hidden them. They would have been together, _safe_, when the Elders arrived. Everything would have been so very different if only he had been in control. 

"Can we trust him?" Michael was demanding of the small blonde who had emerged from behind the towering gates of the Guards' compound. 

Maria scowled at him. "It's a bit late to be asking that -- of _any_ of us," she answered. She sighed, running a hand through her short hair. "This had got to be the strangest night of my life." 

Max silently agreed with her. "But does this Alex of yours really have the ability to get us the labs?" his voice nearly broke on the last word. His sister, held captive in a _laboratory_... 

Maria's shoulders straightened. "Alex is one of the smartest people I know. He can get us in." She stretched her legs out, the heavy rubber soles of her laced boots dragging against the concrete floor of the building in which they had taken temporary refuge. 

"If he decides to help us," Michael growled. "How long does it take to write one of those damned messages?" 

Maria watched Michael pace, her features set into a mask of annoyance. "Calm down, space boy! We're asking a lot of Alex, did you expect him to get back to us without taking the time to think things over? You do realize that he and I may both end up with a bullet through our heads if this doesn't work out." 

Michael's eyes narrowed. "We won't exactly be shown to the guest suite, either. Alien autopsy and all that shit, remember?" he asked, calling upon the words Maria had spoken while he had been her prisoner. 

Max glared at them both. "Could we not talk about that? Everything is going to turn out fine." He could worry about everything from the security of their current location to how they would get out of the labs with Isabel once they found her within the privacy of his own thoughts. He would prefer not having to listen to his worries bantered back and forth between his two companions. 

"I've never been so great at positive thinking while heading down into the lion's den," Maria answered. She jumped as her computer let out a soft trilling sound. Her fingers danced across the keys, calling up the message. She looked up at the two aliens, terror and excitement warring for dominance in her eyes. "Alex is with us." 

_ Title: It All Came Crashing Down (4/5)   
Jan 3, 2000_

It was wildly unprofessional, but Maria met Alex with a fierce hug as she and her two companions were let through the security net around Topolski's main base. Alex's arms wound about Maria, his grip equally desperate. Growing up, Liz, Maria and Alex had rarely been apart for long. The month in which Alex had been sequestered underground had been an eternity. 

"God," Maria breathed against Alex's ear, "I wish we could bring you back up with us." She pulled away with a wan smile, scrubbing at her tearing eyes with the back of her hands. 

"So do I," Alex answered softly. He straightened, looking around Maria towards the two men she had brought with her. Although neither of them had said anything about his and Maria's greeting, Alex could see that they were both impatient to get moving. Alex couldn't blame them. The quicker they got to where they were going, the quicker they could get out. 

Alex directed his next comments to all three of his companions, already moving down the hall. Their footsteps sounded far too loud in the empty corridor, and Alex winced at each footfall. "I got into the blueprints for the base," he told them. "There's really only one place that they'd be likely to store a captive. I can't be _that_ hard to get into," Alex said hopefully. 

The base, despite it's formidable reputation, wasn't truly that impressive. After the first attack, there hadn't been much time to build or fortify an already existing building in a manner that was easily defensible against the alien abilities and technology. The outside was more heavily defended that the interior, and due to frequent bombardment, even the security net was patchy. With enough time and the proper equipment, Maria and her companions probably could have found a weak spot through which to slip even without his aide, Alex thought. Only the carefully preserved reputation enjoyed by the base kept the underground complex from being run over by frantic Roswell citizens and alien invaders. 

"Is this place always so... empty?" one of the males asked. After rattling through his fear clouded mind, Alex shook loose the man's name. Michael. He sounded suspicious. Obviously, he had expected corridors brimming with military, Guards, and technicians. Alex nearly snorted. 

"Yes," Alex answered. "There aren't as many people tucked away down here as everyone seems to believe." Most people balked at the thought of living out their lives underground, beneath Topolski's direct command. Those who were given no choice but the join her were few in numbers. Only those such as himself who were considered indispensable were forced to join the woman. Topolski seemed to prefer smaller numbers of people within her immediate sphere -- less people capable of turning against her within her own home. 

They were silent then, as Alex lead them through the building. When they happened to run into one of the few people who inhabited the base, Maria, Michael or Max took care of them in short order. They paused only to tuck the bodies away in the most unnoticeable areas they could find along their route. 

Alex cautious stuck his head into the computer lab where he had spent all of his days since descending into the base. He could see two heads diligently bent over their stations. Alex withdrew back into the hall. He could feel sweat trickling down his hairline. His breath had become ragged with his fear. "Two people. Left, far wall. Center, midway from the door," he positioned them. 

Maria smiled tightly in an attempt to reassure him. "Computer geeks," she scoffed. "No problem, Alex." The three of them slid past Alex. He stood in the hall, his eyes clenched shut. There were a few muffled shouts, and a large clatter as something, probably one of the chairs, toppled over. 

It was a mere moment later that Max gestured to Alex from the open doorway. "It's over," he told the other young man. His voice was low and serious. He looked as if he had been thrown off balance by the violence that he had been forced to participate in to get as far as they had been able to. Neither Maria nor Michael had that same look of disgusted determination. Both of them had seemed to crackle with energy as they fell upon their targets. Alex hadn't wanted to see a Maria capable of attacking anybody. 

Alex nodded mutely and followed Max. He couldn't see either of the two men who had been working in the lab. Max gestured towards a corner across the room, and Alex was relieved to see both of them still in one piece. 

"Where to now?" Michael demanded. 

Had it only been this very day that he had questioned Tony about what hid behind that door? Alex wondered. 'Looks like I'll get a first hand view after all.' He pointed towards the door behind which Topolski had disappeared. "It _has_ to be through there." He hoped. 

Max barely glanced at the various keypads adorning the lock to the door. He smiled grimly, his hand brushing over the lock. They could all hear the click as the door was unlocked. "The inside of the building isn't shielded," he explained. His voice was a cross between amazement and amusement. 

Alex shook his head. "It died before I even got here." He swallowed nervously as Max nudged the door open. The other three filed past him, and froze. Alex warily followed, his own eyes widening. 

Long rows of fluorescent lights revealed the machinery stationed throughout the room. "This is _ours_!" Michael growled. "They must have found the remains of our ship." 

Maria pointed to a rounded platform. "Is that a--" 

Michael nodded. "A transporter." 

"It looks like they pulled it straight out of Star Trek," Maria said softly, more to herself than any of the others. 

"No wonder Topolski seemed able to be in two places at once," Alex gasped, remembering the many times he had believed the woman to be safely at the other end of Roswell only to have her unexpectedly slip up behind him. 

"Enough sightseeing! We're here to find Isabel," Max said sternly. He broke his stasis, venturing deeper into the room. The others followed closely, both humans still darting appreciative eyes towards the alien technology their own leaders had appropriated. 

It didn't take long to find Isabel. All four of them froze once more as their eyes lighted on the huddled figure within the glass cell. Alex struggled to give a word to his impression of her. She looked... starved, somehow. Isabel had obviously been given enough nourishment, but at the same time she looked as if she had grown only into herself. At the sound of their approach, her head had pressed deeper into her crossed arms. She rocked back and forth, her shoulders trembling. 

"_Isabel_," Max groaned, taking a step towards her cell. 

Maria's hand latched onto his upper arm. "Camera," she told him, pointing at the corner of Isabel's cage. 

Michael narrowed his eyes, and a moment later, a puff of smoke escaped the camera. He shrugged at Maria's look. "I always was good at blowing things up." 

Max took care of the lock to Isabel's cell with the same ease that he had the earlier one. He dropped down next to her, tentatively reaching out. His hand hovered over her shoulder, and Isabel let out a low wail. She shrunk further into herself. "Izzy... Come on, it's me. It's Max. It's me and Michael. We're here to save you." 

Michael stood outside the cell, his fists and jaw clenched. Tears burned at his eyes as he looked at Isabel. What had they done to her to drive her into such a state? 

Maria turned away, tears filling her own eyes. She held onto Alex. "Do you think you could figure out how to operate those teleporters?" she demanded of him. "It'll be next to impossible to get Isabel out the way we came if she's not cooperating." 

Alex nodded briskly, and quickly moved towards the equipment which had first attracted their attention. It was time to prove the intelligence everyone so admired him for. 

Isabel knew before any of the others. Her low wail had built to a scream by the time Topolski spoke. "Mr. Whitman. Miss DeLuca. I must say, I am quite disappointed in the both of you." Four heads snapped towards the smiling blonde, as Isabel shook harder. 

Maria's breath quickened, her eyes darting towards Alex. She noted with relief that after his momentary shock, he had continued working at the transport. //Michael? Max?// she called out, praying that they would hear her without one of them having initiated contact first. 

//What is it, Maria?// Michael responded. Fear and hatred flickered at his voice as he looked at Topolski. 

//You three get to the transport. I'll take care of Topolski.// 

//You can't fight her alone!// Max protested. He had known of the woman as the Butcher. She had been made more than a woman, more than a mere human. She was unstoppable, the symbol of everything his kind had hated about the Earth's inhabitants. 

//She's just one woman. And I didn't put my neck, and Alex's, on the line, just so that the three of you could get killed down here. You promised me peace... and if it takes Isabel to get it, I suggest you get her out of here.// 

Maria stepped forward, glaring at Topolski. "It's true, then. You were holding Isabel prisoner all this time. You could have stopped the fighting if you'd only released her!" It had been raining the day she buried her mother, the sound of explosions echoing in the distance. "How many people would still be alive if it weren't for you?!" 

Topolski hadn't noted the aliens' move towards the transport, Isabel slung over her brother's shoulder. "They started this, Maria. They claimed that the children were here for safety. It's far more likely a scenario that their offspring were sent here to infiltrate sensitive areas of human society as they grew older, _weakening_ us! 11FA and the others gave us the chance to study their kind -- to provide us with an advantage against them." 

"Her name is _Isabel_," Maria grated. 'Just one woman,' Maria reminded herself as she flung herself forward. Her fist connected with the side of Topolski's head as the older woman ducked. 

Maria and the other recruits had been taught basic fighting techniques. They had been shown a graceless, brutal sort of attack. Topolski had been trained in more formal forms of combat. She had learned techniques Maria had only glimpsed in movies. Beyond her training, Kathleen Topolski also had disposed of any reluctance against killing even her own people. Her foot lashed out, and Maria yelped, barely jumping backwards in time to avoid the blow. 

Nothing she was doing was enough. Maria could remember, clearer than she had ever done before, a schoolyard scuffle with Kyle Valenti before things had gone to hell. Maria would have laughed had she the breath to do so. Her hands reached out, winding in Topolski's unbound hair. And she pulled. She bared her teeth, snapping down on the older woman's ear. The move that had won the fight against Kyle merely made Topolski shriek in protest. Maria gained a blow to her stomach for her efforts. 

She couldn't look away to see how Alex was progressing. '_Hurry_!' she thought desperately. 

*** 

Michael's eyes remained fixed on Maria and Topolski as he heard Alex's shout of triumph. "Got it!" Alex was saying. "It'll take a minute... just _stay there_," he warned them. 

The transport hummed around them. 

He saw Maria's head snap back, blood running from her nose. The young woman gritted her teeth, blinking back tears of pain. She stumbled. Topolski looked away momentarily, her eyes lighting on the transport. Rage flickered across her face. She turned back to Maria, her hand raising. 

//Maria!// Michael screamed to her inside his head. 

"Maria!" Alex screamed. 

The bullet tore through Maria, sending her reeling backwards. The sound of the shot echoed through the room. Topolski wore a shark's smile as she turned towards the remaining people. 

The world lurched around Michael and faded to black as the transporter burst to life. 

He reached out towards Maria one last time as he, Max and Isabel were lifted out of the base. Only silence answered his call. 

_ It All Came Crashing Down (5/5)   
Jan 19, 2000_

The blankets pulled over his head muffled the sounds of the world beyond his bed. Beneath the covers, he could hear the rapid gasps of his own breathing. The scent of his own sweat was strong, trapped beneath the layers of blankets. He didn't move. He couldn't move. He had no energy to spare his body while his thoughts consumed him. 

His good cheek lay against the pillow. The scar left upon the other one during his month long captivity ached when turned against the cloth. He could almost feel it, a constant pressure against his cheekbone, skittering down in jagged little steps to his jawbone. He had looked in a mirror once after Liz had brought his home, showing him to his new room about the Cafe. He was no longer the man he remembered. He hadn't looked at the mirror since. 

He could hear Liz moving about beyond the closed door to his bedroom. His body curled in on itself tighter, his hand fisting beneath his chin. She tried to understand, he knew. And maybe, in a way, she did. He envied her that. He didn't think that he understood what he felt anymore. He told himself to get over it, to pull himself out of bed, to submerge himself beneath a hot downpour of water... he couldn't move. 

He couldn't make himself what he had been. He couldn't shake loose the memories. He couldn't move forward. But he could _remember_, vividly. He could see when he closed his eyes, he could see against the blackness of the covers held over his head... the look of surprise on Maria's face as she had fallen. Topolski's tight smile as she turned towards him. He could remember the feel of the weapon in his hand as he scrambled on the floor, trying to move far enough, fast enough. The scent of blood, it's colour, still stung his senses. 

He'd sat on that blood slicked floor, Maria's head cradled in his lap, Topolski's body sprawled beyond them. Too much... The world had been changing around him far too fast for so very long, slipping deeper and deeper into darkness and violence. And then they had taken him away from his friends, nudging him on the path towards a lifetime of servitude to Topolski. They had taken away Maria, then, too. In front of his eyes, more than just the comfort of her presence, but her very _life_. 

He had reacted, and then there had been two bodies on the floor. 

His body had forgotten how to move. He had sat there, waiting for the others to come. They took him deeper underground, questions and blows raining in unison against him. 

Too much. 

Brave, Liz told him. Heroes, she proclaimed. And Maria was buried among strangers, branded a traitor by those who had been content to let the war rage on while they held Isabel in their hands. And he lay unknown by the world, hurt by those who did know him. A scar on his face, aching in his bones, and a hollowness in his heart waiting to be claimed by the darkness edging around it. 

Alex's body shook beneath his covers, tears soaking at his pillow. 

*** 

Her breath caught in her throat as the Cafe's door swung open. Max stood framed in the doorway as he blinked rapidly, adjusting to the drastic change in lighting. He moved further into the room, the door closing behind him. His eyes met hers across the Cafe and Liz swallowed. 

"Max?" Liz breathed. She took an uncertain step forward and paused. Since she had last seen him, Liz had enshrined Max within her memory -- she had known that she felt a current of recognition between them, and dreaded finding that it had grown in her mind as she clung to his image, detached from the reality of what it had truly been. It was still there... that trembling _something_ waiting for them to discover. 

He ducked his head, struggling for words. "Is... is this a good time?" Max questioned uncertainly, glancing at the two coffee mugs in Liz's hand. Steam still curled up from them. 

Liz glanced over her shoulder before setting the mugs on the counter. "It can wait... A friend of mine is staying here for a while, the last few months have been pretty rough on him," she explained. She caught at her hair, tucking a loose strand behind her ear. 

"Is he okay?" Max asked. Her face told him that he wasn't. Something had changed about her. Sorrow had been imprinted upon her face, more noticeable now than had been earlier. 

"Maybe," Liz said. Her head lolled forward and she wearily rubbed at her eyes. "It's been really... God, Max! I just finished mourning for one friend, and now I'm afraid that I'm going to loose him, too!" 

He was moving, reaching out towards her. Max pulled Liz's form into his arms, holding him tightly against him. "I'm sorry, Liz." 

"I know," she breathed. Everyone was. They cried for their world, their friends, and themselves most of all. They had been given peace through the sacrifice of others, and none of them could recall what to do with such. 

She pressed her face against his chest. "I'm glad that you're here, Max." 

He wanted to hold her forever. "Liz... there's something you have to know," Max murmured. She had to know. Holding her as he was would become little more than a lie if she did not know whose arms she had delivered herself into so trustingly. 

She shook her head. "Not now. Please. Just let everything feel right like this for just a while longer." 

*** 

White. White walls. White ceiling. White sheets. All around her. Kathleen Topolski _hated_ white. She closed her eyes, wishing away the sterile cell in which she lay, trying to force it aside with the pure strength of her rage. Every time her eyes opened, she was met with white. 

She wanted to turn around, to pull her covers over her eyes and shut out the monotonous fields of white she was trapped in. She couldn't move. Helpless. As vulnerable in her room as had been Isabel in her own colourless cell. 

The door opened. Topolski shut her eyes, dreading the thought of another visit from her unbearably chipper nurse. They were laying their world open to the enemy, and the silly little fool had the gall to cheer it! Topolski raged against her unresponsive body. They would not _dare_ expose themselves any further if only she could _move_. 

A rough, calloused hand rested against her forehead. "Oh, Kathleen," a male voice sighed mournfully. "Oh, darlin'..." her eyes snapped open to meet Jim's. His hand brushed her hair back from her face. "It isn't over. I promise you that I won't let it end like this." His lips brushed against hers. 

If she had been able to, she would have smiled. 

*** 

Michael crouched down, his fingertips lightly resting against the ground. They hadn't provided a gravestone for her, but he could _feel_ her... the haunting remains of her aura still clinging to her. Humans were strange in death, still and quiet and forever cut off from those they had left behind. It seemed such a very lonely way to cast off mortality. 

"I just thought... I wanted you to know, it's over now, Maria. I wish you could be here to see it, but we got you your peace. Everything's going to be better. For everyone." He rose to his feet as lightning cracked through the sky. Michael turned his face up towards the grey clouds as the sky opened up, rain striking down at the earth. 

~end~ 


End file.
